Cannes Roundup: Colin Firth, Katie Holmes and Orlando Bloom Line Up Major Roles, Clive Owen / Robert De Niro Film Gets a Distributor

The Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off today with the premiere of Woody Allen's latest, 'Midnight in Paris,' which is already garnering glowing reviews and Oscar buzz. The film market has been heating up for days, and we're finally starting to hear about some of the biggest deals finalized in the posh French Riviera town.

'The King's Speech' Oscar-winner Colin Firth, who is currently filming the Coen-brothers-scripted 'Gambit' with Cameron Diaz, will star opposite Emily Blunt in an untitled dark comedy from first-time director Dante Ariola. In the film, Firth plays a man who fakes his own death so he can begin a new life and in the process meets a woman (Blunt) desperate to leave her own past behind.

Production is set to begin in the fall, with Focus Features handling international distribution. [via The Hollywood Reporter]